Trendy or Trashy

by Meredith Knight

2CCs and 5OHH's. Topic: Children of the 80's understanding the world.

Before we get to our topic, here is a brief description of the people who provided this information.

Subject1: Meridian- Enjoys bands like Skillet, Jennifer Knapp, and Fono

Subject2: Osyris - Is a less well known professional wrestler.

Subject3: Asara- Enjoys band like Metallica, The Waiting and Raze.

Subject4: Tophel- Enjoys I.C.P. Enough said

Subject5: Illusion- Enjoys bands like Splender and Naked.

Subject6: Reload- Computer graphics specialist.

Subject7: Sid- Is the lead singer in a hard core band.

Being children of the 80's is different. We are more or less unique in that no two of us will have the same upbringing. Our parents range in age from 38 to 58 which puts their youth between the Red Scare and Disco. ( Cold tingle on spine Disco) Not that there is anything wrong with Disco, but no matter what they say, they knew how bad they would look when they took those pictures. Anyway, because of this variation the Gap was born, well actually it was made popular by the grunge movement. No sorry, wrong topic; our topic was cartoons. So we ranked the top ten cartoons we could think of. So here you are-- if you don't understand why, well you might have been born too late in the eighties to understand.

1. Voltron- self explanatory

2. Thundercat/ Silverhawks- almost identical ideas and plot line

3. He man/She-ra- see above note.

4. Justice league of America- Don't you wish sometimes that you had been more careful with your action figures.

5. Scooby Doo- The original grainy looking one. Not a cartoon of the eighties but definitely necessary for survival.

6. Mask- Flying cars. It wasn't until recently that one of the subjects realized he had more of a chance of getting a minivan with wood paneling, driving it with his 2 children, pregnant wife and Schnauzer dog, Muffin, then he does of getting a car with overhead doors that fly.

7. Smurfs- Look, if you didn't grow up with Gargamel or don't know any of the smurfs names (and aren't old enough to see the flawed logic of one girl smurf and five hundred boy smurfs, then suddenly there were kid smurfs and a grandpa) you are not a child of the eighties.

8. Our or R Star Blazers- None of us can remember which it is . But digging up a Battleship to make into a spaceship not to mention the fact that this seems in all the subjects minds to be the beginning of a rich Anime tradition in America.(Speed racer doesn't count)

9. Rainbow Brite- The bright colors are what did it.

10. GI JOE- Today we're going to bomb Cobra Com-mander. GO JOE!

11. Care bears/My little Pony- Don't ask. It was a pastel moment and we were in a dark place.

Also under a special memory "Photon" the game that spawned not only a cartoon series but a long line of Laser tag products. As well as "Gotcha" the beginning of paint ball. Many of the things that are in high demand today were created in the eighties. Proving that not only were the cartoon companies ahead of their time but so were the toy companies.

There are certain things that we would also like to call special attention to; certain rip off artists that have maintained status by trading the individuality that was then for the mass marketable instant gratification society of today. Here's the list of what we called "Should Be Banned "

1. Anything live action by Saban

2. Anything that is in syndication. (Some things were cool but let MASH and Mayberry die happy)

3. Anything that is a rip off (ie. Voltron to Power Rangers)

4. Anything Scooby Doo that doesn't have the Grainy sketched appearance.

5. New Kids On The Block or any one related to them.

6. Big hair, teazed and or permed hair anything necessitating the use of Aqua Net or a hair tool more powerful.

7. Binky the taco bell Chihuahua (she made five billion dollars for her owners. I hope she bites the mailman and he sues them)

8. Bad movies that are made into worse cartoons (Godzilla-people we know you are out there)

9. Any movie that makes it to a weekly TV show.

10. The new beetle design, the only thing that was cool about the beetle was the old design; in the new one you look like an ass.

There were a few things we thought of giving a quality mention to. Here they are.

1. The Cartoon Network

2. Disney, Pixar, and Robin Williams. (Did you ever watch Aladdin to find out what he really said After Bee yourself?)

3. Velvet that is not a painting of Elvis.